Exterior mods complete! ...well maybe

[Naz24]

Originally Posted by cfmistry

BTW how are you liking the Toyos? How many miles do you anticipate they'll last? I'm debating those and the Conti DWS.

Thanks,
-Cyrus

i love my toyos. lasting like champs. My friend got more than 40k out of them on the 315 rubber....

[Gixxerboy63]

Originally Posted by atregent

The under ride protection looks really nice!

Does it actually offer any protection, or more of a decorative thing? We go camping a lot and I'd like to add something like that to my X. Any chance of a photo looking a bit more underneath at how it's made and attaches?

Thank you. I absolutely enjoy the new look! Yes, I believe it would offer substantial protection as well as a cosmetic bonus. What you actually see extruding from underneath the spoiler is only about 10% of the whole piece. It extends past the front wheels on the backside. Here are some pics...

[rocky1536]

Gixxer,

If you want to significantly update the front end of your car, I would strongly suggest either taking the waffles our of your stock headlights or upgrading to DEPO's and selling your stocks for as much or more than the depos. Makes a HUGE difference.

Also, the other significantly noticable looks (and performance!) "upgrade" that I made was Bilstein shocks and H&R springs, dropping the car about 1.25". Amazing how much more aggressive the stance is...

What kind of GSXR do you have>? I've been riding an RC51 for the last 4 years or so!

[gkaman]

Originally Posted by Gixxerboy63

Thank you sir. I am very satisfied with the exterior. Next, I will be concentrating on upgrading the sound system, backup camera and bluetooth....

Nav tool + backup camera
JL Stealthbox + Alpine PDX-5 amp
DICE Mediabridge + Bluetooth (been on backorder from BSW for over two months!!!)

I went with a Clarion. Its ok. Works well enough. Its the iphone that is glitchy. Depends on the software update that Apple puts out whether or not the bluetooth will sync seemlessly. Very hit or miss. I still like it better than screaming into the phone or looking like a db with a bluetooth headset. One thing I can recommend is putting a switch that will cut all power to the head unit. This will reboot the thing if it gets stuck. You don't have to pull a fuse and you can do it while you are driving. I put the switch under the steering wheel area far enough back that you can't see it. I love being able to plug in the phone, charge it, talk on the phone, play music or videos/movies all from the phone. You should make sure you get the adapter for the steering wheel controls and parking brake overide for the video on the head unit. By law you cannot play videos while driving. So you have to have the ebrake engaged, and you cant just ground it anymore, it is a cycling circuit, so you have to have a unit that overrides when it cycles. That is a must, if your front seat passenger wants to watch a movie while you are driving.

Found all the installation hardware and dash/radio cover on ebay. It was kind of expensive for the condition it was in. The finish on the dash cover was not done well and the hardware for the radio was full of rust. It all came out ok, but it took a bit of extra elbow grease and attention to detail to try and get the dash to look like a similar finish to the rest of the interior.

Also if it is sunny, the angle of the dash is not monitor friendly. Not much you can do about it, unless the head unit monitor has a tilt on it. Mine does, but it only tilts up, which is oppisite of what it needs. But its still better than the business cd player that it came with.

I don't even know what brand the headrest monitors are. I found them online referbished for under $200 for the pair. They came with the headrest and all the wiring and components. They look just like the stock headrests and it was such a bargain I couldn't pass it up. They were loose in the headrest from them refurbishing them, but I just epoxied them and they are not going anywhere. I am very happy with this system and my 5 year old daughter loves it.

I put the back up camera on the handle of the tailgate (right side from the rear). I had to dremel things pretty extreme to get it to fit. The camera is tiny and there was still barely any room. It looks ok from a distance and it is weatherproof, but I am pretty anal and I don't like looking at it up close.

My wife has a system in her 2007 328i that works flawlessly. Im pretty jealous of it actually. But I have an X5 and she doesn't, so there.

Good luck with your project. Post some pics when you do it, I would love to see how it turns out. Sorry to ramble on.

[scrowley111]

I dont think I like the lower bull bar look. Nice clean X though.

[atregent]

Originally Posted by Gixxerboy63

Thank you. I absolutely enjoy the new look! Yes, I believe it would offer substantial protection as well as a cosmetic bonus. What you actually see extruding from underneath the spoiler is only about 10% of the whole piece. It extends past the front wheels on the backside. Here are some pics...

That really does appear to offer a lot more protection than I though it would, my search for one of my own starts now! Although, it may be cheaper and easier to get one custom made. The nudge bar is also on my list, but they seem to be a bit of a rarity too (and, no doubt, quite pricey)

[Gixxerboy63]

Originally Posted by rocky1536

Gixxer,

If you want to significantly update the front end of your car, I would strongly suggest either taking the waffles our of your stock headlights or upgrading to DEPO's and selling your stocks for as much or more than the depos. Makes a HUGE difference.

Also, the other significantly noticable looks (and performance!) "upgrade" that I made was Bilstein shocks and H&R springs, dropping the car about 1.25". Amazing how much more aggressive the stance is...

What kind of GSXR do you have>? I've been riding an RC51 for the last 4 years or so!

I do not wish to modify my stock headlights, however, I have another set of headlights that I may install later... right now, I am enjoying the clean look of the OEMs... My other headlights are pictured below; (Aftermarket fitted with OEM/Hella HID projectors, Angle eyes and self-leveling adjusters).

About lowering it... I think mine looks just about right. The Underride sits about 3" below the front spoiler and gives the illusion that it is lower, even though it is stock height... It has a sinister look coming up in your rear-view mirror. It's still an SAV and I think it would look a little weird if I lowered it too much. 1.25" may not look too bad, but I would have to see it first.

BIKES; I do not currently own any bikes. I raced several different GSXRs and then I switched over to an R6 and everything began to click. I went from a heavily modified and race-prepped GSXR750 to a bone-stock R6 and started winning races (the best I ever did on the Gixxer was 3rd place). I have looked at the RC-51, the Repsol 1000RR or maybe a Raptor....who knows?